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Rocket Lab plans to merge with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), become a publicly traded company, and develop a medium-lift partially reusable rocket. "Neutron" would be competitive with SpaceX's Falcon 9 and capable of launching cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.
The funding from the SPAC merger will enable another new initiative. Rocket Lab said it is working on a medium-class launch vehicle called Neutron, capable of placing up to 8,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit, more than 20 times the capacity of Electron. The company disclosed few technical details about Neutron, but said that it intends to make the first stage reusable through propulsive landing on an ocean platform, similar to SpaceX's recovery of Falcon 9 first stages.
The new vehicle is intended to support the growing interest in satellite megaconstellations. "Neutron's eight-ton lift capacity will make it ideally sized to deploy satellites in batches to specific orbital planes, creating a more targeted and streamlined approach to building out megaconstellations," Beck said in the statement.
Rocket Lab had previously resisted building a larger vehicle. "There's no market for it," Beck said during a side session of the Smallsat Conference in August 2020. "If you build a larger rocket, you relegate yourself to being purely rideshare, and rideshare is really well-served."
The first Neutron launch is scheduled for 2024 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia. The vehicle will leverage the infrastructure the company built at Launch Complex 2 there for the Electron rocket, which will make its debut from that pad later this year. Rocket Lab said it's "assessing locations across America" for a factory that would handle large-scale production of Neutron.
Previously (company history as seen on SN):
Rocket Lab Unveils "Electric" Rocket Engine
Moon Express and Rocket Lab Team Up for 2017 Lunar Mission
New Companies Begin to Target the Micro-Satellite Market
"Planet" Purchases 3 Launches from "Rocket Lab"
Rocket Lab Makes Suborbital Launch From New Zealand
Launch of Rocket Lab's Second "Electron" Rocket Due Dec. 7-8
Rocket Lab's Second "Electron" Rocket Launch Succeeds, Reaches Orbit
Rocket Lab's Electron Rocket Launched "Humanity Star", a Temporary Source of Light Pollution
Rocket Lab Set to Launch Commercial Payloads on April 20
NASA Awards Launch Contracts to Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit
Rocket Lab Plans to Build its Next Launch Site in the US
Rocket Lab to Build U.S. Launch Site at Wallops Island, Virginia
Rocket Lab's Modest Launch is Giant Leap for Small Rocket Business
Rocket Lab Set to Launch its First Payloads for NASA
Rocket Lab Mission for NASA Successfully Launches 13 CubeSats
Rocket Lab Successfully Launches R3D2 Mission for DARPA
Rocket Lab Will Build Satellites for Launch Customers
Rocket Lab Will Attempt to Recover First Stages Using a Helicopter
Rocket Lab's Guided Reentry Test Moves Company Closer to Partially Reusable Rockets
NASA Selects 18 Research CubeSats as Secondary Payloads; Rocket Lab Will Send CubeSat to Lunar Orbit
After a Second Stage Failure, Rocket Lab Loses Seven Satellites
Rocket Lab Will Resume Missions in August Following Launch Failure
Rocket Lab Secretly Launched its Own Company-made Satellite on Latest Flight
(Score: 3, Funny) by mhajicek on Tuesday March 02 2021, @08:23AM (3 children)
You can tell it's run by the marketing department; they scheduled a launch before building the rocket.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Tuesday March 02 2021, @08:53AM
That's not unusual in the industry. SpaceX's Starship, ULA's Vulcan Centaur, and Blue Origin's New Glenn already have customers lined up. None of those have ever flown a mission.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 02 2021, @04:01PM (1 child)
No. It's run by the wishful thinking department.
1. Before they're even done with their development, SpaceX will be running thrice-daily commuter rockets to the moon.
2. Starship can lift 10times their top weight into LEO, and still have 20tons of fuel left for height or (expensive) orbital plane changes. Which means: rideshare galore, baby! How about lofting that sat for an fifth of the launch cost?!? [all numbers are gut feeling only]
I guess they're still going for the "leftover breadcrumbs from SpaceX" market, because they won't be competing on these numbers. And that market is getting smaller and more crowded too, or they wouldn't be sinking development money into "reusable" for the fun of it.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday March 02 2021, @07:44PM
The U.S. government will artificially support at least 1-2 other launch companies than SpaceX. ULA and Blue Origin are likely candidates, and Rocket Lab has enjoyed support so far.
If Rocket Lab's satellite business takes off, maybe they can fall back on that, launching with Starship. Then again, SpaceX is looking to provide a similar service [spacenews.com].
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